Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 410: Isaac Makes His Move

Plummeting to the ground, the dragon continued to throw up blood.

Narja and Slazza jumped to catch the huge beast, making sure to coat themselves in essence to avoid the sharp scales. They gently lowered the beast and immediately applied first aid.

Netra was helped by Narja, given plenty of ointment for her serious burns and a healing salve for good measure.

The dragon was relieved to feel Slazza’s light essence filling his body and healing his damaged internal organs. Also, the dragon was given an elixir to consume, to help restore all the lost blood. Slazza could burn away the blood that had filled the dragon’s internal cavities but he couldn’t replace it.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

The thundering crowd was silenced in seconds as God Toseko stepped forward once more. “Netra was your name, correct?”

Standing back up, Netra bowed her head. “Yes, your omnipotence.”

.....

“Netra... I’ll be sure to remember you. You’re truly a perfect candidate, and you also have the determination and diligence to grow and accomplish great things, something fairly rare among perfect candidates,” Toseko complimented.

“Thank you for such admiration, your omnipotence.”

“Raise your head. You deserve to meet my gaze, at least once.”

The prefecture lords were baffled to hear that, but they could only stare at the god with questions kept to themselves.

Netra did as she was ordered. She looked up to match his gaze.

“You’re a tremendous candidate, one of the best I’ve seen in recent years. My expectations for you have risen yet again. Make sure to not fall short of them. Fall from my expectations, and you’ll be forgotten by the quadrant entirely. Rise to my expectations, and you’ll be a star among the youth. Surpass my expectations, and you’ll become a pillar to support the future of the quadrant. Thank you...”

“Thank you, your omnipotence,” Netra replied, bowing once more as the god returned to his seat.

‘Hurry back already!’ Isaac telepathically scowled at the fox girl. ‘How dare you defy me?!’

Netra sighed and ignored the raging lord ranting in her mind. Instead, she bowed to her draconic opponent. “Thank you for the match. I’ve learned so much from this exchange. Though I’ve only just become a low-elder and managed to defeat you, a mid-elder, I only did so with luck on my side.”

Grinning and offering the small fox a full bow, the big dragon replied, “No, thank you. This is something I’ll never forget. And this fight will become a turning point in my training. Thank you for proving that the purity of bloodlines isn’t the only thing that matters. As someone from a branch family, that’s something I’ve always wanted to prove, yet you’ve already done that and more today. So, thank you, Netra!”

‘HURRY!!’

Netra bowed lightly and began walking toward the stairs, still ignoring Isaac’s demands.

Thinking back to the instructions she was given, Netra looked for Rhyner. To her surprise, Rhyner was standing at the top of the stairs and smiling back at her.

As Netra reached him, Rhyner bowed to Netra. “Congratulations on your victory. Now, let’s return to where we belong.”

Netra nodded and moved to follow Rhyner. But she flinched and had to readjust her trajectory in order to match his.

“Rhyner, where are you-”

“Isaac, where are you going?” The moment Isaac got up on his feet, Treeda did the same. “What’s wrong? Are you unable to give orders from a distance, or are you so untrusting that you refuse to delegate properly?”

Glaring and clenching his fists, Isaac questioned, “Treeda, what are you talking about? I’m merely going to meet my candidate and one of my prefecture’s kings.”

“Don’t you mean ‘Toxic-shadow’s candidate and one of Toxic-shadow’s kings’?”

All the elite prefecture lords got on their feet after hearing Treeda’s retort. They also glanced at Toseko, who said and did nothing to stop either of the two.

“Brother, what’s she talking about now?” Isla shouted, not caring if the audience could hear.

As Rhyner and Netra reached Toxic-shadow’s seating area, Isaac shouted, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Treeda. This is nonsense!”

“Is it? Really? Must I shout it to everyone here for you to finally accept that you lost the region,” scoffed Treeda, startling the elite prefecture lords. “God Toseko, what were the conditions placed between Tempest, Nova, and Toxic-shadow regarding the magicite mine?”

“Magicite?!” Each elite lord shouted, turning their immediate attention to Toseko.

Smiling and chuckling to himself, Toseko explained, “In the end, due to Isaac’s refusal to coordinate a means of recompense for the death of Treeda’s daughter and the recent discovery of a magicite mine in this territory, the two motions were combined to create the original basis of this exhibition, before we invited additional prefectures to join in. In this case, whichever of the three involved prefectures won, that prefecture would gain the chance to claim a single thing of the other.

“In the case of Isaac’s victory, he would’ve gained the magicite left behind by the quadrant without any conflict or claim by neighboring prefectures. But in the case of Treeda’s victory, she chooses to forfeit the contents of the mine. Instead, Treeda chooses to reclaim this particular region, which had been gifted away to let her daughter rule it under Isaac’s protection, which he did not provide... Did I miss anything, Treeda?”

“No, your omnipotence. That’s a perfect description,” Treeda stated. “Isaac, your prefecture lost while mine moves on, thus this region is mine, including its inhabitants and candidates.”

Shouting back, Isaac retorted, “The exhibition has yet to end! Why are you stopping everything just to make our private matters known to everyone?! You’re-”

“I’m merely keeping you from stealing my perfect candidate!” roared Treeda. “Not only is she a perfect candidate, but my teachings are far more beneficial to her than yours! You don’t even trust her private instructor, the man who raised her into a perfect candidate.”

“So what?” Isaac barked back, “Netra has already become a registered citizen of Nova City! She is my candidate, not the candidate of some backwood territory like this!”

Leering at Isaac, Treeda questioned, “You dare separate her forcefully from her family, her clan, and the instructor that made her into the cultivator she is today?! Would that not potentially ruin everything she stands for-”

“So what!? She’s a citizen of-”

“God Toseko, may I be permitted to speak, despite my low cultivation?”